


Bullet Train

by Unfairaddiction



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/M, Gen, Intrusive Thoughts, Original Character(s), Slow Build
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-13
Updated: 2017-09-27
Packaged: 2018-11-30 23:29:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,455
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11473929
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Unfairaddiction/pseuds/Unfairaddiction
Summary: No one had ever asked Lilah where she wanted to go. No one had ever asked Lilah what she wanted to do. It was laughable, really, that her kidnapper was the first person who had ever wanted to know anything about her. Staring down the barrel of a gun, she couldn't help but laugh, for the first time in her life she could go anywhere.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I took a lot of liberties writing this. We don’t know a lot about Deadlock/what kind of hold they actually have over route 66 so I’m just gonna work with the theory that everything and everyone that lives/works there is somehow involved with the gang and if they aren’t they don’t want anything to do with them generally.  
> I’m not gonna pretend I know how to fix things, but I’m gonna try and make it sound believable that the main character does.  
> I'm going to try to have McCree make an appearance next chapter but this is really just set up! I hope you enjoy.

Route 66 was a busy place. It’s inhabitants were frequently coming and going on various jobs, an endless stream of screaming and yelling. The roar of engines from old pickup trucks and motorcycles frequently filled the canyon. A girl sat on the edge of Deadlock Gorge. She was on her lunch break and she had 25 minutes before she had to be anywhere, she sat and listened to how unusually quiet it was. The diner was open to visitors.

   

It was an odd weekend. Generally the locals didn’t take too kindly to visitors. It was rare that they were this friendly. Zed had even let her handle a few customers who weren’t from the area. It was why she opted for the spot away from the garage, Zed was less likely to ask her to come back early from her break if she looked over the gorge by the diner, rather than from behind his garage.

   

Her legs dangled precariously over the edge of the ridge. It was a hot day, she figured it was at least 90 degrees. Her tank top was soaked in sweat, and her lips were dry and cracked, but she had 23 minutes left in her break. She didn’t want to crowd the diner anymore than it was, and she didn’t want to return to her job at Zed’s Garage. She supposed she could stop by the gas station and see if their fans were working, maybe pick up a soda on her way back to work. Knowing her luck she wouldn’t have time to get a soda either, after she inevitably helped the attendant fix whatever was broken today.

   

With a sigh she swung her legs back onto solid ground and lifted herself off the dirt. She dusted herself off and casually strolled past the ‘Cave of Mystery’ and made her way past a decrepit phone booth. The gas station was nothing special, Big Earl’s wasn’t groundbreaking. It had two pumps beneath an overhang. Behind the pumps were two garage doors that were currently open. The left door was narrow while the door on the right was wide. You could see a couple racks of snacks in the center of the store, and behind them toward the back wall were a line of fridges full of various drinks. By the left wall tucked out of sight from the outside was a counter with a cash register. There were three fans in this gas station, a ceiling fan and 2 fans on the floor, one was in the right corner facing away from the fridges and the other was in a room to the left in their stock room doorway.

   

There was a family filling up their van at one of the pumps when the girl slid into the gas station. She had 20 minutes to get back. She noticed that the only other person in the building was the woman behind the counter who had a sour look on her face, she also noticed none of the fans were on, and it was sweltering in the building. She hated the heat and could feel her tank top sticking to her skin.

   

“Lilah! Thank god!” the woman behind the counter cried and rushed out wrapping the other in a hug, which was ill advised considering just how blisteringly hot it was. “You have to fix the fans!” she was practically in tears. Her eyeliner was smeared and her makeup was patchy, she’d been sweating it off all day. Lilah considered not helping her at all, but a favor could go a long way here.

   

“I only have time to fix one,” Lilah’s voice was soft. The woman released Lilah and told her to fix the one by the stock room door.

   

“You’re a lifesaver! A saint sent directly from heaven!” she laughed.

   

“Are the tools still in the back Cadee?” Lilah asked as she made her way to the stores stock room. The man from the van came in. Lilah judged him briefly, based solely on appearances he seemed like a friendly guy. He had silver rimmed glasses and he was balding, he wore a plaid flannel shirt and jeans. Lilah thought to herself, ‘Too bad Ricky isn’t here, he could probably pinch a few cards off this guy.’ The way he chatted up Cadee he’d be an easy mark.

   

“Yea! Just go ahead and help yourself,” Cadee replied pushing her black curls out of her face as she returned to the register. Lilah had 17 minutes to fix the fan. It should be easy enough, this particular one was on its last legs and all Lilah was doing was prolonging its suffering. Once upon a time, it was oscillating and turned slowly, it was now held together by duct tape and the power of hope. She could see what was wrong, the wiring was exposed, and she just needed the electrical tape, she hoped it was all she needed, she didn’t have time for much else. She did her best to shove the exposed wires back into place and threw tape over it.

   

“This has maybe a week left!” Lilah called over to Cadee as she finished ringing up the customer. “But it should work!” She plugged the fan back in and flipped the switch, for a second nothing happened and then the fan slowly began to spin. Lilah had 4 minutes to get back to work. She could make it in time if she started running now. She made her way back to the front and ran out the door.

   

“Thanks Lilah! I owe you!” Lilah made a note of that. Cadee, while she wasn’t a big fish, still was a resourceful girl.

~~~

Lilah had lucked out when Old Man Zed had taken her under his wing. He was the closest thing she had to a father. Her parents had left her on the side of the road when she was 6 and had never came back and Zed had been the one to find her, and he had given her a place to stay. He’d taught her everything he knew and gave her a place to work. Zed could fix anything, or so he claimed, and what he couldn’t Lilah could. She had a gift for these things. Zed had tried to keep her out of Deadlock business, but she quickly gained a reputation and leadership didn’t want to let any talent slip out of their hands.

   

She’d officially joined when she was 16. Her tattoo was on her shoulder, right where the world could see. She wanted it to be somewhere she could hide it, like the others but the leader in route 66, Duke the Destroyer as he liked to be called, most everyone called him Duke the Dick behind his back of course, Duke had decided for her. She knew why he had chosen her shoulder. With old man Zed encouraging her to leave when she was old enough to be on her own she was a flight risk. If her tattoo was somewhere that was hard to hide then the only place she would be accepted would be in Deadlock territory.

   

Zed didn’t try arguing when they had come to initiate her into the gang. He had not been pleased, but there was nothing he could do. The only thing he had been able to succeed at was convincing Duke that she was more useful on route 66 then she was out in the field, that she was better off alive then dead or in jail. So while the gang was out on jobs she was back here fixing cars for troubled tourists.

   

Maybe that’s why it was so packed today. The more ornery members were out on a job right now. No one around to scare off the good customers. It was always interesting to Lilah to see families with kids, they always seemed so happy. Her eye twitched at the thought of her own. She wondered what they were doing now, her real parents. She wondered if her father could have been like the man from the gas station.

   

“Lilah you’re late!” Zed snapped Lilah out of her thoughts as she approached the small garage.

   

“Sorry,” she said meekly, looking away from him. He’d always been “Old Man Zed”, even when he was younger. His expression was always sour, even when he was happy he had a perpetual frown. His brown eyes were framed by crows feet and his once dark hair was graying. Lilah always felt bad whenever he took on that accusing tone. He had given her everything and the least she could do was be on time. She sighed and straightened her shoulders. Her family was here.

   

“Everyone’s getting back tomorrow. We need to get all this shit done before they get back. Hurry up.” Zed’s garage was small and he could only work on one car at a time. Lilah had a small workplace toward the back of the shop where she could work on smaller vehicles like motorcycles and scooters while he used the main area for cars.

   

While Zed finished up with tourist’s cars Lilah worked on the Deadlock’s bikes and occasionally fixing other miscellaneous things people brought in. She cleaned up the shop and helped Zed when he needed it. It wasn’t a terribly eventful day. The family she’d seen at the gas station stopped by to get their oil changed and Lilah caught herself wondering if they were traveling, on their way to their vacation spot. She wondered if the kid’s parents were going to leave them here like hers had. She quickly looked away when her thoughts went from fun family vacations to child abandonment and her own bitterness.

   

Eventually they left and Lilah finished putting away the tools and cleaning up the messes they had made during the day while Zed closed up the garage. The sun set in the distance, she couldn’t believe it was that late already. She wondered what time the gang would be getting back. Normally when she and Zed were leaving everyone was drinking at the High Side, the bar across the street from them. There was no line of motorcycles and the windows were dark. It was a silent night on Route 66.

   

‘The calm before a storm,’ Lilah silently mused to herself. If the job was a success they’d be partying all day and all night tomorrow. If it wasn’t they’d still be drinking but more prone to fighting in the street and scaring everyone who had stopped at The Cave Inn for the night.

   

“I’m going to the Panorama for dinner. You coming?” Zed snapped Lilah out of her thoughts.

   

“Are you…” Lilah started. She was always short on cash, it was easier to spend it then try and keep it and hide it away from the rest of the gang.

   

“Yes I’m paying,” Zed snapped.

   

“Sure. What do I owe this treat to?” Lilah was curious. Zed never invited her to eat unless he had something to share.

   

“Duke called ahead. He says they owe their success to that doodad you made. Gave us a nice bonus.” Zed’s frown wasn’t as deep as it normally was. Zed accepted payments on Lilah’s behalf, she didn’t like dealing with Duke if she didn’t have to and Zed could understand that. Zed charged her a fee, since he didn’t much like Duke either but it was something she was willing to deal with since he let her stay on his couch rent free.

   

They ate dinner mostly in silence, the diner now mostly empty was silent as well. All the people who normally inhabited it at this time were gone. It was nice. The jukebox played old music and the staff dropped their fake customer services voices and it was nice. Once the rowdy gang member got back Lilah wouldn’t be able to walk around alone. She should’ve made plans with Cadee to do something on a nice night like this. Cadee wouldn’t even be able to ditch her to go see her ‘boyfriend’ since he was out on the job.

   

Lilah looked around at the posters on the wall of the diner. It was a nice place, when it wasn’t loud and full of obnoxious men and women yelling and screaming at each other over real or imagined slights. Lilah remembered when she was 15 and one of the other girls thought she was trying to steal her boyfriend because he’d been ‘spending too much time at the garage’ and had slammed Lilah’s head into the counter. It had been her first fight, and it hadn’t gone well. After that Zed had taught her the basics of self defense. She was no master fighter but if push came to shove she could protect herself. Lilah went back to her food.

   

“Duke wants you to sit in tomorrow,” Zed said as he took a sip of his drink. She stopped, her fork halfway to her mouth, her shoulders tense.

   

“What? Why?” she asked, she wasn’t a high ranking member. Leadership went to after heist meetings, not someone as low ranking as Lilah. Zed shrugged.

 

“Apparently there’s a client that Duke thinks you could be of use to. I don’t know though. He didn’t elaborate much. But tomorrow night at 8 you need to be in the backroom.” Zed was a hard man to read but even he looked a little on edge. Lilah had only been to the backroom of the warehouse a few times and it was never a fun experience. However, there was no saying no to Duke.


	2. Chapter 2

Lilah had 60 minutes to get to the back room. Not that she was counting.

 

At the moment she was sitting alone in the Panorama Diner. In the background she heard the jukebox and the sounds of pots and pans clinking as the staff cleaned up before closing. She swirled her lukewarm coffee.

 

The rest of the gang had come back around 12, that was 7 hours ago, and they had come roaring in. She’d been told at least 8 different stories about how they achieved victory, and she’d overheard 20 more different stories about the same thing and everyone was the hero of their own version. She was sure she’d hear another version from Duke when she got to the meeting, probably closest to the truth than the others. A real straight shooter Duke, for the leader of a gang he sure liked being honest.

 

Not to say that he wouldn’t withhold certain truths. Not that Lilah would know.

 

Lilah’s eyes were burning holes in her coffee cup with how intently she was staring at it. Duke wanted her in the back room at 8. She glanced at her the clock on her phone. 55 minutes. She sighed and leaned back in her chair, she pushed her chair so that it was balancing on two legs and she turned her gaze from her coffee to the ceiling. Normally one of the waitresses would have snapped about her scuffing the floors or breaking her neck, but they could sense her sour mood and let it be for now.

 

Lilah had been to the back room a select few times. It never got easier going back there. It could mean anything for someone in her position. Lilah had told Cadee about her meeting earlier and it had even put Cadee on edge. For Cadee, the back room had a much darker meaning, most people that Cadee knew went to the back room and never came back, the exception being Lilah. For Lilah the back room just meant that she would be going out into the outside world, away from everyone to do ‘special’ work for one of Duke’s clients. It wasn’t always pleasant, but according to Zed the payoff was enough to be worth it.

 

Sometimes she wondered just how much Zed was actually taking from her. Not that she could use the money. If she started hoarding it Duke would probably be suspicious. He’d think she was trying to save up to run. No, it would be better to live the way she had been.

 

Her chair tipped too far back and she lost her balance. Her chair screeched as it slid out from under her and she hit her head on the floor. She could hear the waitress losing it behind the counter. Lilah stared up at the off white ceiling for a moment. Had there always been that water stain? Lilah couldn’t remember. The last time she’d been laid out on the floor like this was 10 years ago when she was 15 and Louis’ girl Sandra laid her out for ‘trying to steal her man.’ Like anyone would want Louis after that stunt he pulled with those Overwatch dogs.

 

Louis wasn’t a smart man, Lilah recalled, neither was Sandra but that was neither here nor there. Louis had been the one that fucked up. Maybe if he’d never run his big mouth then maybe Lilah wouldn’t still be here, Duke would have his little protege and Lilah could have taken the first train out of here when she hit 18. At least that had been what she told herself. Everything had changed when Louis opened his loud mouth and gotten the attention of the wrong people.

 

45 minutes until her meeting with Duke.

 

Thinking about Overwatch was strange for Lilah. She hadn’t thought about them in years. Not since Duke broke out of prison. Most of the gang had been arrested or killed in the raid that Overwatch had done. Zed had been spared and some of the older folks had been spared, assumed to just be victims of the Deadlock Gang, while a few of the key members had managed to escape. The raid had been a nightmare, one that Lilah was not keen on remembering right now.

 

More than half the gang had been caught up in that mess, Lilah was 10 when the Overwatch goons had come in and wreaked there havoc and left. Duke got broken out a few years after the bust, Lilah was fuzzy on the date, she hadn’t really been involved much then. She just remembered a lot of screaming and raging about Jesse McCree. To this day if you even brought up his name Duke might shoot you. His picture was plastered on and in every building, a promise of a reward if you bring him in dead or alive. Duke wasn’t bitter about him joining up with Overwatch, he wasn’t bitter at all.

 

Lilah hadn’t known him well. Sure, she’d heard about him. Who hadn’t? Everyone wanted to be Jesse McCree. Talented and resourceful, he was going places. Lilah couldn’t help but be bitter that he got the opportunity to get the hell out of Route 66. Lilah had met him once, in passing. She had been playing with her friends and bumped into him. She thought for sure he would beat her half to death, most others would have, but he hadn’t.

 

To her, this place felt more like a prison, and McCree had just gotten picked up and taken out. She hated him, but she couldn’t help but wonder what would have happened if she’d been older. Would she be in prison with the rest of the gang? Probably. All the things that made her special hadn’t come out until that fateful day in the diner, 5 years after Overwatch came and went. When Sandra had punched her so hard she saw stars and ended up staring at this same ceiling.

 

Lilah shook her head and sat up. Better not to dwell on the past. She pushed herself off the floor. She’d lingered on the floor too long and the staff were giving her looks. She paid for her shitty coffee and left.

 

30 minutes.

 

It felt like time was dragging on. The sun was beginning to set, vibrant oranges and reds lit up the sky. She glanced up to the rail line that stretched across the canyon. Duke and the others had been planning something for this rail line, they were awfully tight lipped about it, which wasn’t unusual but this job they were planning was awfully close to home, not that Lilah was supposed to know anything about it and if anyone asked she’d be pretty convincing about her lack of knowledge. Most people didn’t even know their was a plan.

 

Lilah meandered by the edge of the canyon. She could hear the roar of engines deep at the bottom. They were probably racing down there, Lilah was itching to be a part of that, but right now she had 20 minutes before her meeting, besides her bike was wrecked right now anyway. She sighed, if she waited any longer she’d be late, but she couldn’t help but linger. She wondered if McCree found something outside of this hole in the wall town.

 

She was going to be late.

~~~

The thing about the back room was it was built into the rock walls and it was full of stolen weapons and tech. Ever since Overwatch had fallen Deadlock had been rebuilding its name as one of the best smugglers of stolen tech in the USA. In the very back was a room, very similar to the high side bar, only this was exclusive and not nearly as noisy.

   

She could hear the occasional clink of glasses and quiet laughter. Lilah hesitated before entering, they seemed to be in a good mood.

   

“There she is!” Duke’s voice was booming. Lilah flinched when his large hand slammed down on her shoulder.  She hadn’t seen him come up beside her.

 

 Duke was a big man. Tall, imposing, and very well augmented, there was more tech packed into his body than necessary. Lilah was getting a headache.

 

Duke’s right bionic eye was malfunctioning. It kept twitching in random directions. It made Lilah's own eye twitch. His grip tightened on her shoulder as he led her deeper into the room, surrounded by the highest ranking members of the gang. Zed was leaning against the wall in the back corner looking unimpressed.

 

“I bet you're wondering why I've called you here today,” Duke said. His smile was wolfish. He shoved Lilah onto the couch in the center of the room, usually, unless there were guests, this was exclusively Duke’s spot. All eyes were on Lilah as Duke went to the front center of the room. Behind Duke, there was a board that outlined the last heist. It was an old school chalkboard, photos were hung up with notes detailing the plan.

 

Lilah opened her mouth to ask about what happened on the heist, however without even looking back Duke answered her question.

 

“The heist was a success, I’m sure you heard. In fact, it went so well I think we can pull off something even bigger!” He whipped around the prideful smirk on his face faded. “But that’s not important right now, right now I need your help with a job. A client has requested some tech and I think this would be a good mission for you. Since you’ve been so eager to get away for a bit.” There was a dark look in his eye and Lilah sank into herself and looked away.

   

“It’s not like that…” she started. Duke held up his hand.

 

“Don’t worry, this is more of a prove yourself mission than anything. This is your opportunity to see the sights! Live a little. We’re not sending you too far, but it’ll be further than you’ve ever been.” Lilah couldn’t help the growing excitement of going somewhere that wasn’t inhabited by loud men and the drunk fighting that often came with living with the gang, but she was also nervous. She’d never been by herself for an extended period of time before.

 

Duke was talking but Lilah had stopped listening, thinking about all the things she could do when she was by herself. She could go to a movie, or even work on her own projects without worrying about it being stolen.

 

“...and you’ll be escorted by Zed and…” Lilah snapped back to paying attention. Of course she couldn’t be trusted to be alone. She missed the other name but it hardly mattered, she could feel the freedom slip away.

 

“I’m sorry, what was my role again?” Lilah interrupted, and every head snapped to her except for Duke who took it in stride.

 

“Haven’t gotten there yet, relax. Maybe listen a little and you’d know that.” Lilah looked down at the floor, her cheeks burned. “Now, Lilah, the short version, now that you’re paying attention, is that since we’ve been doing a whole lot of good things Talon has been pretty interested in working with us. This could get us on to bigger and better things, now we need you and a small team of our better members to go show them that we mean business.”

 

“Why are you sending me?” Lilah’s voice was a little more high pitched than she wanted it to be. She knew more about Talon than she should, but not enough to have a very informed opinion about a potential alliance. She just knew they were responsible for a lot of Deadlock’s recent success.

 

“Well,” the look on Duke’s face darkened and his voice lost its happy tone and took on a more indecipherable tone. “They need something built, a tool of some kind, they’ll give you the details about it, but you’re our best when it comes to these things.” Duke’s smile returned.

   

“So! While the rest of the team goes out and does an actual job, you’ll be staying behind to build Talon their weapon!” Duke was excited again.

 

“I thought you said it was a tool…” Lilah muttered under her breath.

 

“Tool, weapon, same difference,” one of the others muttered. Lilah flinched.

   

“When are we…” Lilah started.

 

“Tonight, right now actually. I couldn’t trust you to be ready on time,” Duke turned back to the board, he appeared lost in thought.

 

“What about my stuff, my tools?” Lilah didn’t want to push her luck but this was an important question.

 

“Already in the car,” Zed supplied from his spot on the back wall.

 

“Better get going, you guys need to be there sooner rather than later,” Duke waved them out. Zed pulled Lilah by the collar of her shirt toward the exit. Two of the others in the room followed them out.

 

“The rest of the gang is going to meet us there,” Zed said as he dragged her through the warehouse. Lilah’s throat felt dry, she couldn’t help but feel that this wasn’t going to be the get away she wanted.

   

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Its been a hot minute since chapter one but here I am! I couldn't think of a good ending for this chapter but I thought that its been long enough. Hope you enjoyed!


End file.
